In Arizona, Heliae announced a capital raise of $15 million in funding from international conglomerate Salim Group’s agribusiness company, PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Agri Investments.

This marks a total of close to $50 million in funding that Heliae has received since launching in 2008. As a start-up venture spun out of Arizona State University with the support of Science Foundation of Arizona, Heliae’s mission is to develop and validate technology solutions for the commercial production of algae for a variety of potential uses including food & feed, fertilizer, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and fuel.

This new round of investment will support tangible steps toward creating an international presence for Heliae’s technology by funding continued research and development at Heliae’s demonstration facility in Arizona, and taking steps toward operating an R&D center in Indonesia. The aim is for commercial production in 2014.

NASA develops new way to cultivate algae

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 10:17
Written by Mehdi Khatamifar
Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:52

NASA recently showcased the latest research and technology development a method to grow algae, clean wastewater, capture carbon dioxide and ultimately produce feedstock for refining biofuels without competing with agriculture for water, fertilizer, or land.

NASA’s unique floating algae cultivation system, called Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA), managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., will be available to transfer to the commercial sector in May 2012. Members of the algae-for-biofuel community and industry are invited to take the OMEGA concept and further explore its potential commercial applications.

A small-scale OMEGA system was developed in seawater tanks at the California Fish and Game laboratory in Santa Cruz, Calif., and scaled up to a 450-gallon system at the Southeast Wastewater Treatment facility in San Francisco.

The OMEGA system is designed to grow freshwater algae in municipal wastewater using NASA’s photobioreactors, which are flexible plastic tubes that float in seawater. In the process of growing, the algae treat wastewater and address environmental problems by consuming nutrients from the wastewater and carbon dioxide. The nutrients, if left unconsumed, would otherwise be released into the coastal waters contributing to undesired algae blooms. Just like shrubs and trees, algae have an appetite for the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. The algae release oxygen into the air as they absorb carbon dioxide, retrieve their nutrients from wastewater, and use energy from the sun to grow. These tiny single-cell algae are the fastest growing plants on the planet.

Depending on the amount of sunlight, nutrients, water temperature and a few other environmental conditions, algae can double their numbers every day and be ready to harvest in just three to five days. Some kinds of algae make oil, which can be converted into environmentally friendly and sustainable biofuels. In addition, the remains of the algae, after removing the oil, can be used to produce other products, such as fertilizer, natural gas, and animal feed.

Among other research results to be published in May, the OMEGA research team demonstrated that the floating plastic tubes of algae pose no apparent threat to marine animals in a set of small-scale experiments.

"We have continuous video of various prototypes of photobioreactors, day and night, over a six-month period. We see birds and sea otters interacting with the system, but it does not impact their well being," said Jonathan Trent, the project scientist of the OMEGA at NASA Ames. "Preliminary data showed that the interactions of these animals are not problematic to the system or its functions. "

In developing OMEGA, scientists were inspired by NASA’s closed life support systems used on the International Space Station that optimize the use of resources and minimize waste. OMEGA focuses on self-sustaining cycles that convert waste from one part of the system into assets for another part. NASA used its unique expertise in life support systems to develop the OMEGA technology and lower the potential technical risks to the private sector looking to pursue larger-scale systems.

”We’ve addressed some of the more daunting technological problems for implementing OMEGA,” said Trent. “Now the hope is that other organizations and industries will realize the potential of the OMEGA technology for wastewater treatment and ultimately to produce sustainable biofuels.”

ANA Celebrate First 787 Biofuel Flight + video

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:32
Written by Mehdi Khatamifar
Tuesday, 24 April 2012 08:01

Boeing and All Nippon Airways (ANA) made aviation history as a 787 Dreamliner flew for the first time powered in part by sustainable biofuels.

"The 787 is the most environmentally progressive jetliner flying today, combining fuel efficiency and comfort with reduced carbon emissions," said Billy Glover, Commercial Airplanes vice president of Environment and Aviation Policy.

The flight, between Commercial Airplanes' Delivery Center in Everett, Wash., and Tokyo Haneda Airport, also was the first transpacific biofuel flight.

"Our historic flight using sustainable biofuels across the Pacific Ocean highlights how innovative technology can be used to support our industry's goal of carbon-neutral growth beyond 2020," said ANA Senior Executive Vice President Osamu Shinobe.

The 787 flew with biofuel made primarily from used cooking oil and emitted an estimated 30 percent less CO2 emissions when compared with today's similarly-sized airplanes. Of the reduction in greenhouse gases, about 10 percent can be attributed to the use of biofuel and approximately 20 percent to the technology and efficiency advancements offered by the Dreamliner, program officials said.

The Invention & New Product Exposition

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 March 2012 16:55
Written by Mehdi Khatamifar
Saturday, 17 March 2012 08:00

INPEX, the Invention & New Product Exposition, is America's largest invention trade show. INPEX provides a forum for inventors to exhibit their inventions and attempt to make contacts with companies interested in licensing, marketing or manufacturing new products.

Our 27th Invention Show will be held June 13-15, 2012 at the Monroeville Convention Center, just minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Facilities have been provided for BRTeam members' inventions to participate in this prestigious show"

WasteEng 2012

Last Updated on Saturday, 15 September 2012 15:39
Written by Administrator
Thursday, 12 January 2012 11:54

WasteEng 2012: 4th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation to be held at Porto, Portugal, September 10 – 13, 2012. The conference is organized by Columbia University and Princeton University.

Two of BRTeam members; Ms. Azita Javani and Mr. Pouya Mohammadi, will present their papers during this prestigious event.